Cam operated closure



y July 5, 1960 [Ziyi 4f A. F. DRISCOLL CAM OPERATED CLOSURE Filed Jan. 15, 1957 .INVENTA NMX Lax M Mw Qur.

United States Patent CAM 'OPERATED CLOSURE Anthony F. DriscolLlVIiddle Village, N.Y., assignor of 1 (one-half to lJean Masbach, Stamford, Conn.

This invention 'relates `to containers and1moreparticularly to closures for containers. The invention relates Y more especially to the type of closure in which the mouth of the container has a partition across it with an vopening in the partition over a limited area of the mouth,

and in which a cap vcovers the end of the container and has an opening therein which can be brought into register with the yopening in the partition for one position of the cap, or can be brought over an imperforate portion of the partition 'in another position of the cap to close the container.

Containers of this type are disclosed in United States Patent 2,123,907; and it is an object of this invention to provide an improved construction with cams for holding the outer cap against the mouthpartition by the principle disclosed in said patent. v

It isanother object of the invention to provide an irnproved closure suitable for manufacture with caps made of resilient plastics which are now available commercially. The construction also lends itself to manufacture with plastic necks, and also with containers made entirely of plastics, such as the now popular squeeze bottles.

One of the principal advantages of the invention is the greater facility with which caps can be placed on the container necks by forcing the cap downwardly over sections which distort the cap and below which the cap snaps into itsoriginal contour at a location where it will remain assembled with the container since the forces encountered in use are less than those used for snapping the cap over the neck.y

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

Figure l is a sectional view through the'upper part of a container and showing inner and outer caps secured in assembled relation on the neck of the container;

Figures 2 and 3 are sectional views of the inner and outerv caps but with the caps rotated 90, around their vertical axes, from the positions occupied in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a top plan view of the container closure shown in Figure 1;

Figures 5-7 are views similiar to Figure 4 but showing modified forms of the invention; Figure 8 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing avnodiled construction for the container neck;

Figure 9 is a side elevation of the structure shown in i Figure AK8 but viewed from a position at 90 around the circumference of the neck;` w

'V Figuresfl() and 11 are views corresponding to Figures 8 and but showing still for the neck;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing the application of the invention to a collapsible tube; and v Fig. 13 is a perspective view of thel cap for use with 4 the'collapsibletube shown'in Figure' 12."

another modified construction y' J 0f the inner cap 28.

g 2,943,771 Patented July 5, V1960 The container shown in Figure 1V includes a neck 20 of composite construction. This neck includes a body portion 21 which is preferably of one-piece construction with the container, and which terminates in a mouth 22. There are circumferential beads or ridges 24, 25 and 26 extending from the outside surface of the body portion 21,4 and these 'ridges are of one-piece construction with the bodyportion.

The neck V20 also includes an inner cap 28 with a top wall"29 extending across the mouth 22. There is a pour openingV 31, anda vent opening 33, in the top wall 29.

There `are 'circumferential recesses35 in the inside wall of the innerfcap 28. The beads or ridges 24 and 25 extend into the recesses 35 to lock the inner cap permanently to the upper portion 21 of the container.

Theinner cap 28 is preferably made of resilient plastic material with silicient stretchA to pass over the lbeads 24 and 25 when the 'cap 28 is originally placed on lthe container. However, the cap 28 is strong enough so that it can not bepulled lolf the container by hand or by'any forces to which it will normally be subjected when in use.

The container is closed by an outer cap 38 which lits over the inner cap 28. There is a pour opening 41 in the outercap in positionV to register with the pour opening 31 of the inner cap when the caps are in the positions shown in Figure 1. The outer cap 38 also has a vent opening 43 that -registers'with the vent'opening 33 of the inner cap. 'a

The outer capf38 ning fit, and it is held on the inner cap by protuberances 45 extending inwardly under the bottom edge face of the inner cap. The cap 38 is preferably made of plastic material similar to that used for the inner cap 28 so that the outer cap 38 can stretch sufficiently to permit the protuberances 45 to pass over the inner cap 28. When the protuberances 45 reach the positions shown in Figure l, they snap inwardly under the bottom edge face of the cap 28 as the outer cap 38 returns to its normal, undistorted diameter, Aand, these protuberances 45 permanently connect the outer cap 38'to the neck of the container.

The plastic material used for the caps or neck of this invention are preferably within a hardness range of 40 to 70 Shore D. Some materials suitable for the purpose are Super Dylan or Dylan Other materials are Marlex, Polyethylene, Hifax and Grex.

Figure 2 shows the inner cap 28 removed from the assembly of Figure l. This cap 28 is preferably made with the top wall 29 slightly convex so that the surface of the top wall exerts a pressure against the mid portion of the wall of the outer cap above it when the parts are assembled.

The bottom end face of the cap 28 has a sloping portion which provides a cam track 48. This cam track is high at the center and'slopes downwardly toward both sides. It has steep end portions 50 which serve as abutments for preventing a cam follower from being forced beyond the end of the cam track. In the preferred construction there Vare two cam tracks 48 lon opposite sides In order to have such tracks, it is necessary that each'one be of substantially less than in circumferential extent.

The protuberances M15, one of which is shown in phantom in Figure 2, serve as earn followers. There is one protuberance for each cam track 48.

When the cam follower 45 i s at the high or mid portion of the cam track 48, the top wall of the outer cap 38 is spaced slightly from the top wall 29 which forms the fixed partition across the container mouth. As the cap is rotated to bring the pour opening 41' (Figure 1) into register with the pour opening 31, the cam follower 45 moves downwardly along the slope of the cam track and pulls the outer cap down tightly against theftc'ipwrlll;v

tits over the inner cap 28 with a run-V 29'of the' inner cap. The cam face is shaped so that the y pour openings 41 and 31 are in register by the time the outer cap 38 is clamped tightly against the inner cap. This prevents leakage of liquid between the caps 28 and 3S during pouring 'of liquid contents from the container.

When the container is to be closed, the outer cap 38 is rotated on the inner cap 28 through an angular distance that moves the pour opening I41 over an imperforate portion of the top wall 29. 'I'he extent of this angular movement depends upon the size of the pour Openings. It is evident that it must be suliicientlylimited so that the-pour opening does not reach the vent opening during the turning movement to close' the container.

During this rotation uof the outer cap 38 into a closed position, the cam follower 45 moves tothe highpoint of the cam track and then moves downwardly along the sloping surface on the other side until the Outer cap Ais again tightly clamped against the inner cap by the downward pull'of the, cam follower 45. The camV track is shaped so that this firm clamping of the outer cap against the inner cap correspondswith the positioning of the pour opening 41 over an imperforate area of the inner cap 28. Y Y

Figure 3 shows the outer cap 38 rotated 90 from its Figure 1 position in order to show an end 'view of one of the protuberances or cam followers 45. In the construction shown, the protuberance 45 is circular in cross section, but other shapesV can be used. The illustrated protuberance 45 is substantially cylindrical, as will be evident from'Figures l and 3, but it can be made with other radial cross sections, such as half round or tapered. The cylindrical shape, or a square shape, has the advan= tage of providing more area of contact between the protuberances 45 andthe cam track 48'. Y j

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the closure shown in Figure 1 but with the outer cap 38 turned into closed position.

Figure is a view similar to Figure 4 but with a pour opening 54 having a different shape from the pour opening 41 shown in the other views. This pour opening 5'4 cooperates with a similarly shaped pour openingr55 in the inner cap. v Y

Figure 6 shows a cap for a tablet or powder container. In this -case an opening 54 is used because it is shaped to provide a larger cross section than the circular opening 41 of Figures 1 and 4. There is no vent opening in the closure of Figure 6 because a vent opening is not necessary in a tablet or powder container.

Figure 7 shows a top view of an outer cap having openings 58 which cooperate with openings 59 of an inner cap to provide a structure for shaking powdered material from a container.

Figure 8 shows a modified construction. This construction has a top wall 62 across the mouth of the container, and this wall is preferably of one-piece construction with the container neck 64. In constructing plastic containers, the wall 62 is molded as a part of the container when originally manufactured. If desired, however, the wall 62 can be formed on an open-mouth container by bonding a disc to the lip of the container mouth.

The construction shown in Figure 8 is intended for containers in which the neck 64 is made of plastic material. Such necks are used on plastic bottles and also on metal containers, the neck being united to the metal container at the lower end of the neck by a suitable seam. The Vpour openings in the top wall 62 are indicated by the same reference characters as in the other views.

The neck 64 has a cam track 66 which extends outwardly from the outside wall of the neck, and which is preferably of one-piece construction with the neck. This cam track 66 is shown also-inFigure 9 as viewed from a position at 90, to the view shown in Figure 8. The construction is used with a Vcap similar to the cap 38 shown in Figolre l; and the abutments at the ends of the cam track are indicated by the same reference characters as in Figure 2. Y

Figure shows a construction similar to Figure 8 but with a cam track 70 formed by the top wall of a recession 72' in the outside-surface of the neck. This cam track is used with a cap similar to the cap 38 shown in Figure l.

Figures l2 and 13 show another modified form of the invention for use with a collapsible tube 76. This tube has a block 78 which forms thev neck of the tube. The block 78 hasva side wall 30 and another parallel side wall on the opposite side of the block. At the bottom edge of -each of these side walls there is. a cam track 81 similar to the cam tracks in Figures 1 and 2V except that they are in flat surfacesA instead of circumferential areas. The opening through the'block 78, for discharge of the contents from the tube,` is indicated by the reference character 82.

A cap -86 fits over the block 78 and slides lengthwise along the flat faces 80. There is an end wall 88 j on the capy 86 Vin position to strike against an end wall 9) of the block 78 to limit the maximum the cap'86'. fr

There are protuberances 92 extending inwardly from the sides ofthe cap 86 at locations to serve as'cam followers along the cam tracks 81 in the same Vmanner as in Figures l and 2. The cap 86 is preferably plastic and deformable in the same manner as the other caps so that it can be snapped over the block 78. The cap 76 can be moved into a closed position in which it covers the opening 82. When paste is to be squeezed outof the tube 76, the cap 86 can be shifted into an open position by pulling it back until a forward edge 96 is beyond the discharge opening 82 and the openingv 82` is unobstructed. v j

The end of the tube can be made cylindrical'and when so constructed the caps shown on the bottles of Figures 1-9 can be used with a collapsible tube.

The preferred embodiment and a ynumber of modifications have been illustrated and described, but changes and other modifications can be made and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A container having a neck with a mouth at one end, the neck including an inner cap secured to the container and having a top wall with an openingtherethrough of less area than the mouth of the container, the inner cap terminating `at a bottom edge face, portions of which slope to provide cam surfaces, an outer cap that fitsvover the inner cap and that has a top wall with an opening therein which registers with the opening in the inner cap when the outer cap is in a first position, the opening in the outer cap being located over an imperforate area of the inner cap when the outer cap is in a second position, the outer cap being longer than the inner cap and extending downwardly below the cam surfaces of the inner cap, and cam elements comprising projections extending inwardly from the outer cap and under the cam surfaces of the inner cap and contacting with said cam surfaces, the projections being correlated with the slope of the cam surfaces and the positions of the openings in the caps to hold the outer cap down most firmly when in open and in closed positions. Y i

v2. The container described in claim l and in which at lleast the outer cap is made of resilient plastic material whereby the outer cap can beA distorted to snap over the inner cap, and in which the cam track is high at its mid region and slopes downwardly inboth'directions at a gradual slope, and abutments at opposite endsof the cam track for preventing the plastic protuberance from moving beyond a predeterminedlimitgthe abutnicnts be-` ing of one-piece construction with 'the inner cap. 'v Y 3. A container including a neck vhaving a body portion connected directly to the container and with retaining meansV projecting fronrthe 4outside surface thereof,the neck including also an inner cap having an-opening movement o'f iitting vi' said body portion and that has depressed areas therein located entirely above the lower ed f the cap and for receiving the retaining means that project from said body portion, at least one of the retaining means and depressed areas being circumferential yin extent about the axis of the neck so that any rotation of the inner cap leaves the relative axial positions of the cap and container unchanged, the inner cap being made of plastic material with sufcient resilience todistort as necessary to pass axially over the retaining means that project from the body portion of the neck and into a position with said retaining means engaged in the depressed areas to permanently lock the inner cap on the neck, an outer cap over the inner cap having an opening and movable circumferentially with respect to the inner cap through a stroke to shift said opening in the outer cap selectively into and out of register with said opening in the inner cap, and cam means on the inner and outer caps for moving the outer` cap toward the inner cap at both ends of the stroke of the outer cap, the cam means including a cam track with end portions that prevent the outer cap from turningl on the inner cap through more than a given angle of movement with respect to the inner cap.

4. The containerY described in claim 3 and in which the Yretaining means includes a circumferential ridge x'- tending from the body portion and of one-piece construction therewith, and the depressed areas include a cir"- cumferential groove.

5.Y The container described in claim 3 and in which the retaining means include a plurality of parallel, cire cumferential ridges extending from the body Vportion and ofone-piece construction therewith, and spaced from one another lengthwise of the neck- References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 398,932 Henkmann Mar. 5, 1889 2,036,621 Brunetti Apr. 7, 1936 2,123,907 Masbach et a1. July 19, 1938 .2,138,992 Baker Dec. 6, 1938 2,533,915 Brooks Dec. 12, 1950 2,547,590 McGinnis Apr. 3, 1951 2,669,370 Royall Feb. 16, 1954 2,764,453 Robb et al. Sept. 25, 1956 2,817,451 Giles et al. Dec. 24, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 832,616 France July 4, 1938 

